It feels so worthless, but very best wishes to everyone, and the families of everyone, riding the treacherous waves of this disease.
I wonder how mild the symptoms can be..?
Personally feel quite fatigued, tight chest, brain fog almost like a slight hangover.. no cough or temperature. Definitely don't feel right. Am I supposed to isolate without the main symptoms?
i asked this on the other corona thread but i think it'll get lost in the noise.
Something that struck me earlier reading this and the ‘have you had coronavirus’ thread.
By all reports you don’t get a test unless your are considered highly likely to have it and even then maybe not.
~150,000 have had tests in the UK
~120,000 have tested negative.
So what have they got?
Personally feel quite fatigued, tight chest, brain fog almost like a slight hangover.. no cough or temperature
This is what I had at the start of March. No idea if it was C19, but it was something. Found out yesterday the reason our secretary was off in mid Feb was for a cough, high temperature, and loss of taste/smell.
So her's was before the symptom alerts really came out, and I (and others in the office) didn't hit the full symptom list.
No idea though - really. I hope so, as it would mean we can get out again
No idea though – really. I hope so, as it would mean we can get out again
That's the challenging one, as soon as you start permitting the immune there will be people who aren't who'll try to get out there as well. Suddenly we're all back to infection again. Same thing if people drop the biosecurity - there's nothing to say it cant be picked up and transferred on skin. People start seeing other people doing less and they start to do less as well.
It all works on everyone holding the line.
Jambo
Winter flu A apparently
The numbers presening v actuals after testing was running at 9%
This wad once you had been admitted and tested
Lack of test means thousands of people are at home with this years flu, thinking that they have covid19, when they dont. Hence the i had covid and it was just like a bad cold report s
They have not been test for c19 so are simply guessing
This is an issue that might prove to be a problem in the future
This year's winter flu a presents identically to c19, but after 7 days you get better, not fall off a cliff and need to be intubated
Ianad, but rsised this back on p120 ish on the long thread, then my suspicion was confirmed byban actual docton r4
It all works on everyone holding the line.
oh i realise, but that's why the Chinese have given everyone a QR code with green/orange/red. If you're out, and your QR code says you shouldn't be, you're taken in.
Possibly wouldn't work over here though!
Hence the i had covid and it was just like a bad cold report s
If they'd had proper flu they wouldn't be saying it was just like a bad cold, it's ****ing grim.
Worse than a lot of the reported CV19 symptoms from confirmed cases in healthy people.
One of my colleagues tested positive two weeks ago. She didn't have a cough or temperature and was only being tested because she was about to start chemo and they wanted to make sure she didn't have it.
She hasn't had any symptoms since then, so I guess she must have already had it before then meaning she was in the office with the rest of us. I strongly suspect that the relatively mild cold like symptoms the rest of us and our households had were CV19.
Based in France by the way (half an hour's drive from Italy).
If they’d had proper flu they wouldn’t be saying it was just like a bad cold, it’s **** grim.
Worse than a lot of the reported CV19 symptoms from confirmed cases in healthy people.
maybe if there was widespread testing for flu (i assume that its possible?), it would turn out that there is a wide spread of symptom severity and even asymptomatic cases?
so the classic, you haven't had flu if you haven't spend two weeks in bed unable to move may not be necessarily true?
Winter flu A apparently
I had the flu jab, as I do every year, back in October.
I know the jab isn't infallible, but there's been no reports of a strain of flu not included in this year's jab.
OAP, the line will crumble, the important questions are when and how.
This will go through the population at some point, it will not disappear due to the current lockdown. It depends on whether the government manages it well or screws it up like the pub lock down and all the loop holes in allowing businesses to stay open. Unfortunately it will be the latter.
According to many of the French experts on TV and radio the tests are not very reliable; between 20 and 30% of false negatives are being quoted but there's not much said about false positives. A 16-year-old with no health issues tested negative twice on admission to hospital with breathing difficulties before a third test was positive - she died just after.
In all the very young deaths in France so far there has been one common factor: Ibuprofen (news Europe 1)
I agree with Singletrackmind that it's highly unlikely that most people on this thread who think they've had covid have, they've had flu or a cold. There are so far two confirmed cases among regular contributors if I've been following well enough - hope they survive to post another day and maybe convince some that taking confinement seriously is a good idea.
Have we heard from Boris recently? I wonder how he is doing.
of course it isn't true, it's just the dumbarses/hardnuts on here who like to play top trumps with everything. Often the debilitating symptoms are actually part of your body's immune reaction which obviously various from person to person, as does the severity of the illness.so the classic, you haven’t had flu if you haven’t spend two weeks in bed unable to move may not be necessarily true?
I returned to work this week after 14 days off where I never showed major symptoms like my better half who had to have a second week off work due to breathlessness, but I felt so run down, I was very fortunate that the delivery I was asked to do was relatively light in terms of a backlog of mail and I should have bought a lottery ticket for how little of the duties packets were sorted for me to take out yesterday compared to a normal Wedsnesday...
But despite being so light, I was really feeling physically fatigued towards the end of delivery and even moreso after cycling up the short but moderate incline on the way home on the ~14Kg fatbike. Before I started coming down with something in late Feb, I'd usually do a "bruising" Zwift workout and maybe a small race after work, not remotely feeling up to that!*
* My turbo broke on Sunday, yet to open up but hope it's simply the Direto belt snapped, but taking the road bike out for a short local spin was the last thing I wanted to do after work.
I wonder how mild the symptoms can be..?
Personally feel quite fatigued, tight chest, brain fog almost like a slight hangover.. no cough or temperature. Definitely don’t feel right. Am I supposed to isolate without the main symptoms?
@cloudnine
Yes you should self-isolate, not for you but just in case you do have it. The numbers are really hard to decipher because of the lack of testing, the time scales involved and the discrepancy in how we report deaths etc, but it is likely that 1/3rd to 1/10th people with certain symptoms do have the virus. And it may be that it takes 8 days before mild symptoms become breathing difficulties. So better to self-isolate immediately. I know it is a pain, but it is the morally right thing to do.
This is an interesting and clear explanation from data that points to a loss of smell being a significant indicator of COVID-19 rather than another infection or virus, and that fatigue is a big indicator too, but harder to differentiate between COVID-19 and other illness. COVID-19 Symptom tracker early results
On Monday I started with a bit of a dry cough and on Monday night in bed I felt a bit wheezy (was very aware I was breathing sort of thing), had a bit of a temperature and was hot/cold, woke up Tuesday morning feeling ok, breathing ok but still had a bit of a cough. Am feeling fine now, a bit woolly headed but otherwise ok. Have I had it? I have no idea. I'm not trying to be melodramatic or owt here, I'm just curious.
edit- I'm self isolating now, just in case.
but it is likely that 1/3rd to 1/10th people with certain symptoms do have the virus.
I'd agree with that with the qualifier that "certain symptoms" means their symptoms are severe enough and characteristic enough to have got through all the triage systems and been admitted to hopsital as strong Covid suspects because numbers form Italy, France and the UK put the number of positives for hospital admission in that range.
I wonder how mild the symptoms can be..?
I'm not sure where you've been, but there's plenty of evidence that a significant number of cases show no symptoms at all. Fwiw my partner's compact work team now has five connected people - mostly partners - who've tested positive for COVOD-19. Two of those ended up in hospital, the other three had milder symptoms.
My symptoms are pretty much the same as tiRed's - got slightly worse this morning, higher RHR, lower HRV - but without testing, I can't say what I have. Normally I'd have just clocked it up as a low-grade virus, taken some time off and rested up, which is pretty much what I'm doing. The possibility of it being COVID-19 however, adds an additional layer of stress to the whole thing.
Bottom line is without a post-infection anti-body test, you can't tell. According to the Guardian though, the government has placed an order for 40 million of the things, so eventually we should have a better idea. If you trust this government to actually have done that of course.
maybe if there was widespread testing for flu (i assume that its possible?), it would turn out that there is a wide spread of symptom severity and even asymptomatic cases?
so the classic, you haven’t had flu if you haven’t spend two weeks in bed unable to move may not be necessarily true?
Very good point, however when I've had flu (twice) it's seemed very different to a standard cold, even at it's milder points.
This will go through the population at some point, it will not disappear due to the current lockdown.
It is going through the population now, the objective of social restrictions is to slow its progress by limiting contact between members of said population.
Thought this was interesting on the spread of possible symptoms from a GP who, along with her family, tested positive, so definitely did have COVID-19. Just underlines how varied it can be in the way it presents and how hard it is to know without a test, whether you have it. FB link.
Anyone heard from Franksinatra?
BWD - how are you finding breathing cold air? Uncomfortable in a fingers down the blackboard way?
BWD – how are you finding breathing cold air? Uncomfortable in a fingers down the blackboard way?
Not really. I don't know if you've been at high altitude, like 5000 metres or so. It feels a little bit like that. If you sit quietly arguing with people on the internet, it's mostly okay, bar occasional bouts of chest tightness and the odd tingling fingers, but if I - say - stand up and walk to the bathroom, particularly up stairs, I get proper sudden breathlessness. I don't have any actual discomfort breathing, but I have been mostly inside for the last tend days. Were/are you having discomfort with cold air. I also find it sort of comes and goes in intensity generally.
Fwiw, a mate of mine who's a good sports physio has written a blog post on post COVID recuperation that you might find useful - I thought of you when I saw it:
Cheers, I'll have a look at that. My plan at the moment is intermittent laps of the island and then look at a training plan in a month. I have just noticed the last couple of days my chest feels uncomfortable when I've been outside in cold air - last couple of days weather systems. Didn't notice the same last week when weather was warmer. Not planning on outside riding anytime soon. Mainly to avoid hills.
Anyone here experience a metallic taste?
I google it so obviously got results for it. But you can Google all sorts and get all sorts.
Anyone here experience a metallic taste?
Yes, one of the last and longest lasting things with the sore throat. I didn't even realise it was a thing until someone who had it asked me if I had it with the sore throat.
Started a couple of days ago, more or less as a sore throat eased. Which I still have down as a cold.
Not that I’ll chance going near another person just in case.
On the other hand when it comes to symptoms bingo I can tick most of them. But in a half hearted not really sure way.
Nadine Dorris mentioned the metalic taste
Well our family lost its first yesterday. A 2nd cousin in a care home in Vancouver. Eighty-five with dementia, so a blessing I guess. Still sobering though.
Yeah, I had a day of metallic taste - see my earlier rambling post.
Sorry for your loss Andy. Dementia's a horrible thing. I lost my mother to the pre-senile version of it and it's almost like losing someone twice over. You can rationalise it, but that doesn't change the visceral, emotional loss.
Incidentally, I found this Times article quite interesting. It interviews five different COVID-19 sufferers on their symptoms - I seem to have had most of them, but not a consistent high temperature or complete loss of taste. The article's behind a paywall, but if you register for a free account, you can read two articles a week gratis:
Thought I'd add my experience. Flu-ish feelings 2 weeks ago, sore throat and possible fever, exhaustion. Noticably no cough. Felt better, fever went but developed into tight chest / shortness of breath the following week. This steadly got worse up to last weekend where I had two days of intense nausea, chest and stomach pains alongside badly feeling I couldn't breathe. Made worse by the fear I believe. Called 111 who suggested 999. Ambulance out in 5 mins and taken in. O2 / ekg / bloods / chest x-ray all ok
Sent home 8 hours later with no test ( as not admitted) with painkillers and Valium. Rest and self isolate, told fair chance Covid but can't be sure said the doc. Go back if breathing worsens.
Since then feel ok in myself but chest remains painful at times and breathing remains short. This comes and goes. Resting heart rate according to Fitbit elevated to 67 (usually sits at 55) those past two weeks. Often sitting at plus 70 when in bed, which is high for me. No high temp. Blood saturation 95+ which is good.
Hoping this is residual chest inflammation and it will mend over time. Scary stuff.
Mrs is now in SI. Which means I am too.
She woke up today with headache, sniffles, cough and a slight temperature. Probably nothing serious but PHS advice is self-isolation for 7 days for her and 14 days for me. She is a NHS Care at Home Worker covering an area of over 100 Square miles, has been in and out of folks houses (many disregarding social distancing guidelines) often with colleagues covering a range of other patients. No masks of course. We were pretty much resigned to the fact she'd catch CV19 so not majorly shocked.
Incidentally, I found this Times article quite interesting. It interviews five different COVID-19 sufferers on their symptoms – I seem to have had most of them, but not a consistent high temperature or complete loss of taste. The article’s behind a paywall, but if you register for a free account, you can read two articles a week gratis:
Am I missing something - can't work out how to register for a free account?
Yesterday was day 17 for me, having returned to work on day 15 without the "serious symptoms," but my chest felt the tightest it had been. Misplaced my sensible hat and did a 0.92 Intensity local ~5 mile loop just before dinner, which to be honest felt no worse than sitting around all day.
Not so tight today, but once again quite fatigued, despite a lie in until 0800. Another chilled out day before doing a 0.78 Intensity flat ~8 mile loop before dinner.
Not looking forward to the 0515 alarm in the morning for work! 😮
So what have they got?
A cold.
Am I missing something – can’t work out how to register for a free account?
They seem to have removed the register option from the site - it still works as I'm registered and get two free articles per week, but I can't find the registration link while logged out. I even searched their FAQs / help for 'register' which gives a link which no longer works.
Sorry about that. I'm not sure what to suggest, I guess they've just removed the option.
They seem to have removed the register option from the site – it still works as I’m registered and get two free articles per week, but I can’t find the registration link while logged out. I even searched their FAQs / help for ‘register’ which gives a link which no longer works.
Sorry about that. I’m not sure what to suggest, I guess they’ve just removed the option.
Thanks for trying, appreciate it 🙂
Edit, thought that was the FT
Deaths now to be recorded as CV when symptoms are unconfirmed.
Merak
Member
Deaths now to be recorded as CV when symptoms are unconfirmed.
Dr colleague was talking about this
Tests in such shirt supply, can't be wasted , so if someone dies of what they're pretty sure is covid, they won't waste a test on them.
(Also test not 100% accurate so sometimes have to test twice, again wasted on dead person)
Feb 18th I woke up with a weird dry cough. Felt like I was getting a cold. Went to work and in the space of 5-6 hours began to feel properly grade A awful. Very tired, really aching, very hot. Got home and isolated myself in spare room with bathroom. Temp was already 39.5 and gradually went up to 40.7 for 24h, was odd as while I felt truly terrible my chest started to get really bad. By the Thursday PM I was very wheezy and struggling to breath albeit not to the extent I needed help-coughing was starting to ramp up. The fri was still 39 and chest awful, gasping for air a bit and coughing fits so sore I wanted to lie down and die. First time vertical was the Sunday and the whole next week my cough was horrible, dry and sore but incessant. Breathing was bad and I had to have a break halfway up the stairs. Took another week to start to rally. So that was 6 weeks ago and I’m still not right. I didn’t get tested as I was not in China or Italy and it was all a bit early. I had been travelling heaps the few weeks before so assumed flu but perhaps not.
Parents flew back from Spain the day it locked down.
Dad spent the last 2 weeks in bed due to being very tired, no temperature/cough/aching. He did however briefly lose his sense of taste. He hadn’t eaten and was extremely dehydrated, mum phoning me asking me to help, explaining to her that he may have C19, ring the NHS and I need to stay away for sake of my own family was not a nice experience.
Mum finally got through to NHS help line and was advised to take him to hospital.
dad has spent 4 days in hospital on a drip to rehydrate and antibiotics and was allowed home Yesterday. Mum picked him up. He got his test results today confirming he had mild symptoms of the virus.
Mum(70) is now self isolating in the same house as dad.
Fingers crossed all goes well.
My stepdad's just died of it. 63 and with underlying complaints. He and my mum have both had a heavy cold for a few days, he's been coughing a lot since the start of the week, eventually bad enough for mum to ring 999 yesterday lunchtime. In-between needing 02 he was by all accounts laughing and flirting with the nurses until they found him dead tonight. My mum's in pieces, a county away from any family and now has to quarantine for a week. She's got a lock of his hair in a bag she can't open for a week either.
My wife was horribly ill with all the symptoms last week, and I isolated the week before as I had what felt like a dose of the lurgy (nowhere near as brutal as my wife's version) so I'm going over to stay with my mum as soon as my current isolation's done, as if she shouldn't be alone whether she gets it or not.
This virus is horrible, it's killing people I love and I can't go on a drinking binge to soften it.
And tomorrow I get to break the news to my stepsons.
(Long time lurker, hi everyone)
That's terrible news spud face. Thoughts with you and the family this weekend.
That's an side issue that's not highlighted enough. For those that loose someone have to isolate at a time when you need company the most.
Look after yourself Spudface - sorry about your loss.
Really sorry to hear the Spud Face, look after yourself please, stay strong.
Condolences for you & your family. I pray the rest of your family remain in good health and especially your mum at this time.
Sorry for your loss spud-face. Look after yourself and your family.
Take care everyone. It's pretty clear that despite the lockdown, there's a lot of this thing about.
Thanks folks. There's been a lot of tears down phonelines this morning. I wish I could give my mum a hug.
Stay safe everyone.
Sry to hear that.
Thoughts with you and yours spud-face.
Sorry for your loss spud-face
I'm at coming up to two weeks of the shortness of breath / tight chest and what's weird is at times I feel fine on myself but have the breath shortness, at other times I'll suddenly get 'ill' (hot, rosy cheeked, heart rate rises, skin kind of crawling, chest aches and pains, feel rough and odd) and as soon as that happens, I can breathe big full breaths again. Then later I feel ok again but the tight chest comes back.
Really odd. So I'm wondering if that's all my immune system being weird. T1red, any thoughts? Seeing as it's been 3 weeks altogether I imagine I've dodged the lung failure response, but I'd like it to bugger off now! Hope I can fight it off this week.
Same worries ^ as you @vicksplace.
Started with fever, cough and banging headache Thursday eve/Friday. Now have minor headache each morning but my concern is shortness of breath and slight tightness across chest. Worried as I have asthma. Funnily worst is if I bend over to pick something up. I’d like to know how long I can expect tight chest etc to last, but presume everybody is different.
@Clink - one thing I did was buy an oxygen saturation tester for peace of mind. 20 quid from Argos next day delivery. So I know I'm OK and not to panic.
A colleague with pretty bad asthma has just recovered and is back at work after just over three weeks (pretty sick for 2, resting for the last week) so try not to worry!
@Clink – one thing I did was buy an oxygen saturation tester for peace of mind. 20 quid from Argos next day delivery. So I know I’m OK and not to panic.
A colleague with pretty bad asthma has just recovered and is back at work after just over three weeks (pretty sick for 2, resting for the last week) so try not to worry!
Cheers that’s really helpful!
But nobody has any in stock!! 🤯
But nobody has any in stock!! 🤯
I think eBay has some, just search for 'oximeter'.
Press your nail. Release, less then 2 seconds to pink up? You are OK. More? Lie on the bed and conciously breath harder. Below 94% is not a great place- confusion and blurred vision. I looked for one and found one. It came with home delivery by an operative in a hazmat suit, and his van. It was nice of them to check me out at home. I wasn't admitted. A BP monitor is useful too.
Doctor here. A good guide to how to measure shortness of breath is the number of breaths you are having to take in a minute. Normal breathing is around 12. When unwell with Covid-19 or other respiratory illness' this might go up to 15 or even 18 but once it's getting to the 18-20 mark I would call your gp or if you just feel awful simply call 999. There are lots of secondary effects of Covid-19 including myocarditis as well as pneumonia so it is important to speak to a medical professional if you have any very concerning symptoms. The most important thing is not to wait until your symptoms become too severe as earlier intervention usually means better outcome.
Thanks speedster. Mines about 14 per min. If things get worse I'll call someone. Not sure there is anything they can do unless you need o2. Given clean bill of health last weekend at a&e and I don't feel particularly worse, just not better. So don't want to call them if not necessary..
Sorry to hear that Spud Face. Really sad.
Vicksplace these are the kind of metrics they would use to evaluate you're status. And to some degree you are right about oxygen being the only support at least in the less severe stages of illness. Most people will have some chest tightness and shortness of breath with Covid and it's very difficult for non-medical people to evaluate what is more serious than not so I would say to anyone who is experiencing symptoms that really concern them not to sit on them but ask for advice. You may gain some reassurance which can be just as helpful.
As there been any development on the anosmia front? I haven't smelled or tasted anything for ten days now, otherwise I feel pretty fine, bit of a cold, bit of a cough, get out of breath if I do anything but otherwise fine. I can't WAIT to have a cup of tea I can taste...
Pondo, Most people appear to regain a sense of smell and taste by around 14 days so hang in there!
Brillo, cheers. 🙂
@speedster thanks that's good advice for us all, cheers.
@speedster thanks that’s good advice for us all, cheers.
+1. Useful posts, thanks @speedster.
Sorry to hear of your loss spud face. Sending virtual hugs to you and yours.
Don't think I've actually got symptoms but it's weird how stuff that wouldn't normally bother you plays on your mind now. For the last two weeks or so I've been coughing a bit after cycling and have felt 'warm' that evening (I'm usually a bit phlegmy after a ride anyway). The coughing usually disappears by the afternoon of the next day and is throaty rather than chesty. Have not struggled with breathing while riding and my resting HR has been stable over this time period.
Chest doesn't really feel tight, but every now and then I become really aware of my breathing (but that could just be psychosomatic I guess).
Would a very mild case of symptoms persist over this two week period and only show up when my system has been 'stressed' through exercise?
You could be allergic to tree pollen, colournoise. We're in peak suffering time for many people with allergies right now. I avoid exercise except really early in the morning at this time of year.
@colournoise it could be hayfever.
I am suffering from it this weekend, its odd though as eyes are fine but nose, chest a bit tight and slightly wheezy.
doing my usual time for a 5k so figuring it isn't covid
Yeah. Realised when it first happened a couple of weeks ago I hadn't started my Hay Fever medication yet this year. On that now but it hasn't really subsided. I have been riding afternoons rather than mornings too since 'lockdown'.
Have to wait and see I guess.
Seems this could be a rollercoaster.
This is turning into an unpleasant few days. Felt progressively back to normal Monday through Friday last week. Friday evening did the bi-weekly Zwift trundle - left me feeling pummelled with a bit of pins and needles in the hands for the last km. Legs feeling weaker than usually in the thighs. Developed that pre-cold / flu nasal tingle spent the last couple of days mostly feeling achey. Been out for todays walk - again no energy and pins and needles when I started to walk up the hill. Legs Did TiRed's nail test thing - flushes up fast.
Either it drags on enough to cause a bit of a relapse if you push too much. Or I'm cack handed enough to catch a cold - it was three days since I was in the local super market. This would be some achievement with the amount of hand washing, gel, food wipe down and isolating cans / jars before putting that I do. Randomly started feeling better yesterday afternoon - like it was a 48hr thing. Then back to marginal this morning.
Mentally it was a bit of a kicking on Saturday as I had done the week thinking - ok, weekend, garden pottering. Slow and steady. Now I feel I'm further back than two weeks ago.
Anyway that's the observations, hopefully someone finds it useful. The key thing is moderation and managing expectations. Which given I didn't feel I had particularly bad symptoms is a bit of a shock. I'm now on week four since the first symptoms on the virus bingo started.
Mentally it was a bit of a kicking on Saturday as I had done the week thinking – ok, weekend, garden pottering. Slow and steady. Now I feel I’m further back than two weeks ago.
I'm having a similar sort of experience. I can feel quite okay in the morning, then get proper flu-like symptoms in the afternoon, then feel better again. I definitely still have some underlying shit going on, so I'm resting up and binge-watching Money Heist, 'discussing things' with people on the interweb and staying hydrated, well fed.
Looking back at my training records / HRV data / events, I'm pretty sure I had it very mildly then a weekend of riding knocked me right over and I've spent the last two weeks getting over it with a few really unpleasant, quite frightening days. Now I mostly just feel really tired.
I'm not sure there's much stuff out there on post-Covid recovery - have a look at my mate's blog post - which I posted earlier, but I'd back right off, be really cautious for a week or so and give your body a chance to recuperate. I found even quite low levels of activity like chatting to neighbours over the garden wall or hanging up washing, can absolutely floor me at the moment.
It's quite frustrating, but it's better to back of now than push yourself into some sort of post-viral fatigue thing.
OldagePredator, sorry to hear about your symptoms. I think it's important to emphasise these illnesses cause a lot of inflammatory damage including to your muscles and they will have taken a kicking as will your cardiovascular system. I would think that will take several weeks to resolve and you would be best served by doing very mild exercise initially and working up to higher HR stuff over the next few weeks. Definitely listen to your body right now.
Still a bit coughy this morning, but it's an occasional, single or double cough that feels quite throaty - doesn't match the NHS site symptom description at all. Also feel very bunged up despite Hay Fever medication.
Hopefully I've just picked up a cold and that's compounding my normal Hay Fever issues...
